


Moments

by inky_dreams



Series: What is family? [3]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010), Deathstroke the Terminator (Comics), Red Hood: Lost Days
Genre: Deathstroke more like dadstroke, Female Jason Todd, Gen, Good Parent Slade Wilson, Jason Todd is euro-asian
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:40:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29006202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inky_dreams/pseuds/inky_dreams
Summary: His children definitely have it out for him. If he didn't already have white hair, Slade would swear they wanted to give him premature white hairs.Slade is a tired dad, his kids like to make it worse
Relationships: Jason Todd & Rose Wilson, Jason Todd & Slade Wilson, Joseph Wilson & Slade Wilson, Rose Wilson & Slade Wilson
Series: What is family? [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2115303
Comments: 7
Kudos: 49





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This could be read as a standalone. It takes place at the same time as Chapter 6 of 'Family is What You Make of It'

Deathstroke would never admit it, but he was a ~~softy~~ sentimental old fool for his daughters. Joseph and Wintergreen laughed at him all the time, "the world's greatest mercenary unable to say no to his daughters". Well Joey had signed it, but his intention was clear. One pair of puppy eyes was already hard to say no to, but when one pair turned into two pairs... well it was practically impossible. Maybe he should invest in a tracker, it would be easier to track the trouble they got into.

Anytime the chaotic duo met up, some sort of trouble would quickly follow. Usually leading to being kicked out, banned or something exploding. Sometimes all in that order. And no, he wasn't psychic (Rose) or overly paranoid (Medea), they weren't particularly hard to locate. At this point, following a large commotion would often lead him to the duo.

Medea had recently graduated from university, leading the Al-Ghuls to travel for her graduation. Slade ~~had offered~~ been hired for his services and the rest of his family had tagged along.

"Of course I'm coming with! I can't miss my favourite sister's graduation"

"She's your only sister, Rose"

"Fine Joey, then now she's my fav sibling!"

"..."

"..."

Oh great, the puppy eyes were brought out. Slade tried to have some semblance of resisting, but that quickly failed. 

"Fine... on one condition, no causing trouble"

"Of course, pops!"

Yeah that was a lie. They probably had their trouble planned out too. Brats.

Joseph must have thought so too, as he was silently laughing. Great, Wintergreen would probably tease him the next time they talked.

While they were in town, the graduation had gone smoothly. Chaos was kept to a relative minimum, only one minor incidence of being banned from the booths at the amusement park. The kids had gone to celebrate, Damian and Joseph tagged along to balance the chaotic duo. Somehow, it must have not been enough. The duo had taken advantage of their training and gone overboard at the game booths. They worked systematically, winning at each one until they were asked to move on to another. For heaven's sake, they didn't even keep most of the prizes. The four had kept their favourites and given the rest away to other kids. They brought back some trinkets for Talia and... the most hideous sweater Slade had ever laid his eye on. 

It was large, oversized- _Was that even possible?_ -and a garish hot pink. On it were the words '#1 dad'. Somehow they convinced Slade to wear it for a picture with them. How did I even get roped into this? It must have been those twice cursed puppy eyes. Joseph had almost fallen over laughing while they posed for the picture. To his eternal embarrassment, it was set to his contact photo.

For Medea’s graduation gift, Rose had convinced Talia and him to allow the duo to go on a girl's trip around the world. What that entailed, he had no clue. They had agreed, on the condition that the 2 kept in contact. 

The chaos twins (as Joseph dubbed them) had been good at first. They kept up with regular updates. Then there it was, the other shoe. The first one they missed, he had ~~ignored~~ simply noted it. _Shut it Wintergreen, I am not pacing in worry_.

By the time, the third update was missed. Slade gave up, he was going to drag the two back from wherever they were. 

And when he found them, boy were they going to be taught a lesson in listening to instructions.

* * *

So there he was.

In front of the duo, they hadn't noticed him yet, standing a small distance away. Waiting for them to finally take notice.

Slade would never admit it out loud, but he was relieved to see they were not harmed. His mind had gone into the worse possible scenarios, when they missed their check ins. 

After all, what if they had been taken because of their connection to him? ~~Just like Joey had, his mind whispers.~~ Or because of their connections to the League?

“...” 

“Deathstroke, didn’t know you were in the area” Ravager chirps

“...” _Brats, acting like they_ _didn't_ _make everyone worried._

Talia had wanted to send the League to drag them back. But Slade had beat her to the punch. In exchange, he had offered an interesting alternative to remind them of the consequences of breaking a promise. 

_Whumf_

Nyx was shoved toward him, stumbling she grabbed onto him. 

_Really, Rose?_

“Every man for himself!” Ravager ran in the opposite direction. _I see, a 'tactical retreat'_

“Hey!”

“You better hope I don’t catch you, Ravager” he turns down at the vigilante in his arms “Head to the safehouse on 15th, there’s also someone else who is waiting for you”

Nyx froze in shock “...oops?”

* * *

“Really Rose?”

“Pops, it’s not our fault-”

“And you just happened to lose both of your phones-”

“But-”

“And forget to get new ones and keep us updated? Because it’s not like we gave you guys sufficient money to travel?”

“Ok, when you put it that way, I guess it sounds bad”

“Hmmph” Glancing to his right, he sees Talia chewing Medea out for the same things. They wrapped up soon enough and joined everyone else in the room. The chaos twins exchange looks, while Talia and him share amused looks. The silence stretches on awkwardly.

Talia is the first to break it “Well girls, I hope you have both learned something today regarding following instructions. Get some rest, Slade and I have things to discuss”

“Yes mom” 

“Yes ma’am”

Slade and Talia exchange glances 

“Hmm.. I trust they will be punished suitably?”

“Rest assured, I have a lesson plan already drawn up for them tomorrow.”

“I’ll leave it in your hands then”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Local dad takes his kids out on a trip, some hijinks occur

Slade had no idea what happened. The conversation had gone from looking for a safehouse, the pros and cons of disguising it as a cabin to a ‘trip’. The chaos twins had roped Joey into agreeing to it. Now the 3 of them were loudly debating (even Joey with his sub vocal mic on) why their option was the best. God he hoped that he wouldn’t be asked for his opinion.

“You guys don’t appreciate my choices, look I’m sure pops would agree with me”

_Oh no. Rose…. Why?_

“No way, he would side with me”

“Girls, girls” Joey is placating them, good. “You shouldn’t argue over that. Besides I’m pretty sure pops would choose my option. Right?”

_You too, Joseph? Oh great, now all 3 of his kids are staring at him expectantly. What had he done to deserve this? Maybe he really should have taken that contract in Russia instead._

“Dad?”

_Right, they were waiting for him to say something._

“They all sound like good choices”

“Ok, yes but no. Which one do you think is the best?”

_There was no right answer to this. This is a trick question….how can I appease all of them? He was not going to be accused of picking a favourite._

Looking around the room, he notices a hat on the table. Clearing his throat “Why don’t you just throw them all in the hat and randomly pick one?”

Rose starts “Hmm-” 

_Was that the right answer?_

“-I mean that sounds pretty cool” Medea interjects

_Finally, someone agrees, just for that you’re the favourite. For now._

Joey makes a sound of agreement “That would work, so none of us can complain. We all get an equal chance”

“Yeah… and we can get Dad to pick as an unbiased party.” Rose relents after seeing her siblings agree. “Though I’m sure he’s going to pick mine” 

They divided up paper slips, each of them had the same amount They had offered some to him, but he declined. Then they split up, each one of them trying to narrow down their top choices. 

Throughout the day, Slade watched them throw their slips into the designated hat. At one point, Slade decided he was curious enough to look through the options. Sifting through the options, he noticed that almost all of them were out of the country. Some were less specific or a bit outlandish. Such as joining the Illuminati, hunting for lost treasure, going to space to fight aliens or the Bermuda Triangle.

He had a sudden thought, one that seemed perfect. Chuckling, he made quick work replacing the majority of their slips with his slips. It was time for him to get his payback for the photo of him in that sweater.

* * *

“Come on”

“Yeah dad, pick out the slips”

“Fine, fine”

The hat is shoved toward him. Grumbling at their impatience, Slade digs around before pulling out a slip. He was confident this would be one of his.

“What is it?”

“Hmm… let me see” as he unfolds the slip “Camping in the states”

The ~~kids~~ brats are silent. 

3

2

1

“Really, of all the places we could go, one of you decided to stay in the states?” Rose is the first to break the silence.

“Are you sure you didn’t write it?” Joey refutes

“I didn’t. What about you Medea, you’ve been awfully silent”

“Hey! But no, I didn’t. If anything you seem suspicious. Are you regretting your decisions?”

“Well one of you is lying, cuz it certainly wasn’t me-”

On second thought, maybe this was a bad idea. He should probably say something to diffuse the situation. “Didn’t the 3 of you agree that you wouldn’t argue after the destination was chosen? What’s with all the fuss now?”

Chastised, the 3 of them start to settle down in their grumbling. Slade figures he might as well add “Besides, it only says it has to be in the country. We can figure out where exactly to go”

Suddenly they all brighten up. Just as quick though, they start arguing about where the best place to camp is. 

_Oh boy, this is going to be a long day._

* * *

Eventually, everyone does agree on a destination. It only takes ~~a lot of~~ some debate on what to bring, what to purchase and how to get there. 

Rose and Medea had decided to purchase a cabin, for everyone to stay at the end of their road trip. In addition, they decided to convert the place into one of their many safehouses. On their way there, they had mapped out different destinations to camp at. 

The amount of stuff they needed for the cabin was overwhelming. Thankfully, they had been able to arrange for the cabin to be furnished and hooked up to utilities before they arrived. All they would need to do would be to add measures that wouldn’t usually be found in ordinary cabins.

_Everything’s been planned out, so there shouldn’t be any more problems, right?_

* * *

It’s only day one of their trip and Slade feels exhausted. If anything, he feels that his military training days were more relaxing. 

He’s had to break up several fights, those between his children and ones between a civilian and his kid. 

There had been a fight over the music playing, a fight he had to physically drag Medea away from after a woman said a racist remark toward her, Rose was banned from a convenience store, multiple heated ‘debates’ between the kids and Joey… 

Actually Joey hadn’t done anything too outlandish yet. Guess his current favourite was Joey.

By day 3, rules had to be put down. Rose was banned from being assigned to get snacks or alcohol, Joey wasn’t allowed to drive the car and Medea wasn’t allowed to participate in any physical or verbal fights under his watch (She had been banned from physical fights first.) He had watched a man cry as she ripped him a new one _verbally_.

As the trip went on, more rules were added. 

Some notable ones:

  * No speaking in dead languages in public (Rose and Medea)
  * Do not attempt to wrestle a bear
  * No exorcisms 
    * Side note: your siblings are not possessed, they don’t need it
  * Don’t provoke your siblings into a fight



And if he was counting right, Rose was the current favourite. She hadn't done anything ~~to make him change his mind yet~~

They had stopped in Montana when Joey approaches him with a request. At the campground, they had split up their tasks. Rose and Medea were setting up the tents, while Joey and him went looking for some kindling. 

“Pops?” Joey’s using his sub vocal microphones since their hands are rather occupied.

“Yeah?”

“Promise this won’t be temporary”

“What?”

“This… You aren’t going to suddenly stop being in our lives”

“...”

“Having you take an active role in our lives is good. I can see the good that it brings Rose and Medea. I know that I can’t ask you to stop being Deathstroke. But I’m asking you to put your family first. They have both gone through a lot, I don’t want them to be hurt again, especially by someone important to them”

His son makes harsh points, harsh but good ones. The comment about family first had reminded him of the role he played in Joey’s muteness. 

“Joey, I… I promise, I’ll try my best to do that. I know I don’t have the best track record when it comes to being a father. It might not mean much, but you have my word as your father, Slade Wilson, not as Deathstroke.”

Joey blinks in slight surprise - _Had he been that absent as a father that his own son doubted him? Yes, he has. He really has to improve as a father - “t-thanks”_

“And Joey?”

“Yes”

“I’m proud to call you my son”

They don’t speak of this again during the trip, but Joey seems to have a weight lifted off his chest. He watches his children interact with each other throughout the trip. 

He realizes the 3 chose to view him as their father and include him in their life. Medea who has no blood ties, Joey and Rose who are related by blood. They had no reason to get along, but the fact they chose to is important. His heart feels warm at the thought.

By the end of the trip, Slade vows to himself that he will do anything to protect them. He would not be the cause of his children’s misery. ~~He wouldn’t fail his child again, not like Grant.~~

_In another universe, Slade watches his daughter gouge out her own eye to demonstrate her loyalty to him._

_In this one, it never happens. He’d sacrifice his other eye before he would hurt them._

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Green eyes, you're the one that I wanted to find](https://archiveofourown.org/works/29637705) by [roseheiress](https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseheiress/pseuds/roseheiress)




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